Study says state tort climate among best - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The first-ever U.S. Tort Liability Index, released May 11 by the Pacififc Research Institute ofSan Francisco, ranks Georgia's tort climatew No. 10 in the natiobn -- largely because of thoss reforms, pushed through more than a year ago. Had tort reformk not been enacted, the state wouldd have been only No. 45, according to studg author Lawrence McQuillian, PRI'ws director of business and economic studies. "It's a remarkable difference," McQuillianh said. "Georgia is competitive with the top reformerws inthe country, states like Texas [No. 1 on the Missouri, South Carolina and Mississippi." Only North Carolina (No. 9) and Virginis (No.
8) fared better in the Southeast. Thougg PRI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, the study makes no bones about its ties to thebusineszs community. Steven Hantler, assistant general counsel at and chairmann ofthe pro-reform American Justicde Partnership, conceived the project. The Americanh Tort Reform Association, which generates an annual listof "judicial hellholes" across the country, is credited with as is the Georgia Civiol Justice Foundation. The Georgia Chamber of which made tort reform a top legislative priorituin 2005, is touting the study as prooc Georgia businesses are beginning to reap dividends from Senatre Bill 3, the omnibus reformj bill Gov.
Sonny Perdue signed last "This points to the need for SB 3 and its said chamber lobbyistJoe Fleming. "Ww expect Georgia will continue to rise upthat list." The PRI studyh used 39 variables to measure the tort climat e of each state, ranging from the numbe of "hellholes" -- specific areas where verdictw are excessively skewed in favor of plaintiffs; to the caps each statr has placed on damages and how much thei r businesses have paid out; to how each certifiess class actions and handles lawsuits.
Georgia's stellar showing on reform was offset somewhat by the high numbef of casesfiled here, the operation of its courtzs and the amount of mone y paid out in past verdicts. McQuillianj used the most recentlyavailable data, though in severao categories that meant he had to rely on 2004 PRI's forward-looking methodology differsx from that of the U.S. Chamber of whose own long-running tort liability study is a survey of senior corporat e litigators and does not directly account for the effectof reforms. That study, releasedc in March, ranks Georgia No. 27 amon the states, up from No. 28 in 2005 and No. 29 in 2004. "Theses rankings and results are based on the perceptioneof ...
senior corporate attorneys," the U.S. Chamber's study "If the states change the way litigators and others perceivee theirliability systems, we may find considerable movement in theirr rankings in the future." The Georgia General Assemblyt certainly aimed to changwe that perception with SB 3. The bill nixer joint and several liability, a key victory for corporationes and insurers that previously could be forcerd to pay out most or all of a verdicyt if other defendants lackedthe means.
SB 3 also capped noneconomixc damages in medical malpractice casesat $350,000 for a single limited emergency-room liability; instituted stricter requirementsa for certifying expert witnesses and new rules encouraging settlements; and banneed the practice of "venue in which plaintiffs try to get theifr case tried in a county where they believde they will get a favorable judgment. The Georgiza Supreme Court overturned part of the venue shopping ban in which McQuillian said could hurt the stated infuture rankings. But state Senate Judiciary Chairman Preston author ofSB 3, said he thought the court'x decision was fair.
"I expect every part of SB 3 will be challengef over thenext decade," said Smith, "As the courts respond, we may touch on it again. [Legislatorws revisited the settlement provision this Right now, we're in a wait-and-see Tom Eaton, a torts professor at The Universityh of Georgia, agreed with Smith that it could take a couple of years for the benefits of SB 3 to show up in the courts and the U.S.
Chamber'd study, since the bill applies only to new Echoingthat observation, a spokesman for said the company's asbestoa litigation caseload has been falling since 2003 and coule not attribute the dropoff to SB 3, though the company has said reformd in Mississippi and Texas -- where many of the casess were filed -- played a major role. Beforew privately held bought itin Georgia-Pacific reported 57,400 unresolvede asbestos claims through the first nine months of 2005 in a Securitiew and Exchange Commission filing, down 2,400 from the same perioc in 2004.
Although large businesses may take a while to noticed the effects ofSB 3, trial lawyer say they are already hurting from its Sandy Springs litigator Tommy Malone, who hauled in verdictse as high as $45 million prior to SB 3, said the eliminatiomn of joint and several liabilityy has been an issue. "We've takehn lower settlements because we couldr not hold the deeper pocket responsible for the majority of the Malone said. "It's fundamentally unfair.
" George Fryhofer, who heads the Atlantza office ofColumbus plaintiffs' firm , said he has been unabl e to take several cases because the $350,00p cap and the lowball settlement offersw it encourages would prevent him from recovering his expenses. SB 3 "has been as we said Bill Clark, lobbyist for the Georgisa TrialLawyers Association. "It has been an absolutse bar to the courthouse for the mostseriously injured.
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